Koji Kondo speaks on his creative process and legacy
Kon-do attitude
When it comes to videogame music, there’s no bigger name than Koji Kondo. Even if people don’t know Kondo by name, they certainly know his music. He’s the man responsible for crafting tunes that have defined a generation, such as the main theme to Super Mario Bros. and countless other titles. Without a doubt, Kondo’s work will survive and thrive longer than any of us will be around.
Kondo has been receiving all sorts of recognition for his work lately, with his music added into the National Recording Registry and the Library of Congress, and he himself being inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame. Wondering how Kondo feels about all of that? In an interview with The Washington Post, Kondo spoke about his legacy overall.
“The thing I would be most happy with is if they weren’t looking at the music in and of itself. Rather, focus on the music and how it enhances the gameplay. If they come away with the music making their gaming experiences more fun, that would make me more happy than anything.”
Kondo also opened up a bit about how he’s come to craft so many amazing tunes over the years. The man clearly has a process that works for him, and it’s resulted in timeless tunes across multiple generations. Now we have a bit more insight into what his creative process is like.
“I will sit and play it over and over again to capture its rhythms, and then I think of the melody by building a chord progression that matches those rhythms. … If you’re just composing music based on a static image you see, that music could just be background music piped in from another room. In order to make it feel like it’s part of the game, it’s essential to play.”
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